What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
- Downloads：3728
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-01 09:54:02
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Randall Munroe
- ISBN：0544272994
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance， sarcasm， math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks。 It now has 600，000 to a million page hits daily。 Every now and then， Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate。 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning， and we agreed that you should resolve it 。 。 。 ' He liked these questions so much that he started up What If。
If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide， how long would you survive？
How dangerous is it， really， to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm？
If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms， how much power could we produce？
What if everyone only had one soulmate？
When （if ever） did the sun go down on the British empire？
How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live？
What would happen if the moon went away？
In pursuit of answers， Munroe runs computer simulations， pores over stacks of declassified military research memos， solves differential equations， and consults with nuclear reactor operators。 His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity， studded with memorable cartoons and infographics。 They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind， or at least a really big explosion。 Far more than a book for geeks， WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read。
If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide， how long would you survive？
How dangerous is it， really， to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm？
If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms， how much power could we produce？
What if everyone only had one soulmate？
When （if ever） did the sun go down on the British empire？
How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live？
What would happen if the moon went away？
In pursuit of answers， Munroe runs computer simulations， pores over stacks of declassified military research memos， solves differential equations， and consults with nuclear reactor operators。 His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity， studded with memorable cartoons and infographics。 They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind， or at least a really big explosion。 Far more than a book for geeks， WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read。
Reviews
Lisa
，
This book （was a present and） has been sitting on my reading shelf for some time， taking me quite a while to get through。 I appreciate the thought but the individual stories are in my opinion neither particularly funny， nor sufficiently explained/detailed to be of educative value。 I'm quite geeky and supposedly that's why I got the book， but it doesn't really flex my laugh muscles more than twice 🤷 This book （was a present and） has been sitting on my reading shelf for some time， taking me quite a while to get through。 I appreciate the thought but the individual stories are in my opinion neither particularly funny， nor sufficiently explained/detailed to be of educative value。 I'm quite geeky and supposedly that's why I got the book， but it doesn't really flex my laugh muscles more than twice 🤷 。。。more
Markus
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Reread this for like the fifth time， still fun
Katie
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“Remember: I am a cartoonist。 If you follow my advice on safety around nuclear materials， you probably deserve whatever happens to you。”
Jacob Haddo
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Pretty great fun， although some of the jokes wear a bit thin by the end [citation needed]。
Carly
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This was a fun book to listen to！
Kristen
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I found this book boring at times， even with Wil Wheaton narrating the audio。 I probably should’ve only listened to one or two chapters a day so as to avoid overwhelming myself with information。
Rebekah Hamblett
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This is a super entertaining book。 While studying for my nursing boards it was a fun book to relax and clear my head。 The science is so interesting and it’s so fun to consider the ridiculous scenarios in this book and see how they would play out using real science。 Super fun！
Marnie
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Fun look at absurd questions！ Apparently I don't think deeply enough because I don't think I could even imagine some of the questions that were asked。 It was enjoyable。 I did skim a lot of formulas and such。 Fun look at absurd questions！ Apparently I don't think deeply enough because I don't think I could even imagine some of the questions that were asked。 It was enjoyable。 I did skim a lot of formulas and such。 。。。more
Diego
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3。8Some answers are pretty funny， especially the ones that deviate from more serious physics calculations into unexpected territories （what if the Sun goes dark is particularly hilarious）。 Hard to get disappointed if you know the comic strip。
Mr Chuck
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Interesting but not funny。A book full of questions to impossible situations with the most scientific realistic answer possible。 From how fast can you hit a speed bump and survive to what if you made the periodic table out of all the elements。Interesting is a word that is used most to describe this book。 And that's because it is interesting。 However， funny isn't one I'll use as most of the jokes are just cringy and eye rollingly bad。 I get that it's just silly questions with real answers but Rand Interesting but not funny。A book full of questions to impossible situations with the most scientific realistic answer possible。 From how fast can you hit a speed bump and survive to what if you made the periodic table out of all the elements。Interesting is a word that is used most to describe this book。 And that's because it is interesting。 However， funny isn't one I'll use as most of the jokes are just cringy and eye rollingly bad。 I get that it's just silly questions with real answers but Randall Munroe you really aren't funny。Also about halfway through I got bored with some of the questions as they weren't really fun。 I was hoping for more over the top sci-fi questions such as what would happen if you drop a T-Rex into a Sarlacc's pit which is on the front cover but isn't even in the book but instead I found out what would happen if you put a hairdryer in a box and turned it on。。。exciting stuff。 。。。more
Ave de mil plumas
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Hacía tiempo que quería leer este libro。 En él un ex científico de la nasa responde a diversas cuestiones empleando para ello la ciencia y divertidas viñetas。 Algunos ejemplos de preguntas son: ¿Qué pasaría si construyeras una tabla periodica con ladrillos en forma de cubo en la que cada labrillo estuviera hecho del elemento correspondiente？ Si todas las personas apumtaran a la Luna con un puntero láser al mismo tiempo， ¿cambiaría de color？ La respuesta a esta y otras preguntas no solo me ha per Hacía tiempo que quería leer este libro。 En él un ex científico de la nasa responde a diversas cuestiones empleando para ello la ciencia y divertidas viñetas。 Algunos ejemplos de preguntas son: ¿Qué pasaría si construyeras una tabla periodica con ladrillos en forma de cubo en la que cada labrillo estuviera hecho del elemento correspondiente？ Si todas las personas apumtaran a la Luna con un puntero láser al mismo tiempo， ¿cambiaría de color？ La respuesta a esta y otras preguntas no solo me ha permitido saber más de física， si no que me ha hecho reír mucho， gracias al humor del autor。 MUY RECOMENDADO。 。。。more
Sophie
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this is a great book to just open every once in a while and read one chapter， or in this case question。 This is defintly not a book to binge read。
Abhishek
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I like Randall Munroe's xkcd sketches but this was too deep and geeky for me。 I thought I was slightly geeky but clearly， not enough for a book like this。 It was how you would feel if Sheldon went on and on， and spoke for 5 min at a stretch about the hypothetical questions they discuss on BBT。 Randall seems to have a brilliant analytical mind which is also a repository of information。 I orphaned the book after a lot of thought。 I like Randall Munroe's xkcd sketches but this was too deep and geeky for me。 I thought I was slightly geeky but clearly， not enough for a book like this。 It was how you would feel if Sheldon went on and on， and spoke for 5 min at a stretch about the hypothetical questions they discuss on BBT。 Randall seems to have a brilliant analytical mind which is also a repository of information。 I orphaned the book after a lot of thought。 。。。more
Aashish Satyajith
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4/5 really liked itIf all the books in the world disappeared and you could choose one book to save to show how cool science can be， this book is a pretty strong contender for the position。The only flip side is that there are too many US-specific references in it - Empire State Building this， Rhode Island that etc。
Carmel Woods
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Read this with my 13 year old。 He loved it， which also increased my enjoyment of it。
Monica St。 Dennis
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popsugar challenge 2021: read a book by a blogger， vlogger， YouTuber， or other online personality
Philip Guy
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A fun book， engagingly written。 I found it a little too lightweight on the science， and the cover is misleading （none of the 'stories' involve the weighing of dinosaurs）。 But it did teach me a lovely new word。。。apricity :-） A fun book， engagingly written。 I found it a little too lightweight on the science， and the cover is misleading （none of the 'stories' involve the weighing of dinosaurs）。 But it did teach me a lovely new word。。。apricity :-） 。。。more
Kaisa Boese
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The author has made easy reading of hard science。 This was a delightful book to listen to while refiling the entire freshman cohort’s transcripts！
Jim Nelson
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Amusing， entertaining， and educational。 Enlightening in the sense that you wonder。。。where do some people think up this $#！%？
Emily
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I loved this book。 Rarely do you find a book that combines impeccable research skills， weird ass humor， limitless imagination， cute cartoons， and this much general scientific know-how。 Easy to read and super fun。 Probably a 4。5 on the actual scale。
Stacy
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not my type of book。 stopped reading at about 75% in。
Erin Boas
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This was brilliant。
Rachel Langton
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This was exactly as advertised and endlessly entertaining。 I learned so much that I never would have thought to ask。 The “weird and worrying questions” were incredible。
Mike
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Randall Munroe is hilarious， and cleverly illustrates the questions and the responses。
Hemshyam
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A read to relax and pass your timeA funny book which I never expected would like to this extent。 Appreciate the efforts the author has put into answering these absurd question。 He has a lot of patience。 Overall， a great read with a lot of scientific knowledge！ 👌🏽
Seamus
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It's okay。 I wanted more pieces of interesting science info。 It's dorky humor， which is sometimes fine， but gets a little old （he makes the same jokes over and over again）。 It's okay。 I wanted more pieces of interesting science info。 It's dorky humor， which is sometimes fine， but gets a little old （he makes the same jokes over and over again）。 。。。more
Joe J
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A great mix of sarcastic wit and science knowledge to answer questions you never really wanted answers to。 I enjoyed it。 Randall did a great job of assembling experts in different areas and asking them how to do simple and absurd things
Neesa
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I learned and laughed a lot。 This is a great no commitment book， one where you can read a chapter or ten and then set it aside and come back to it later and continue learning and laughing at all the highly scientific but sometimes very sarcastic answers to ridiculous questions。
Korey
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Clever and easy to follow despite being heavily science based。 Fun book！
Janette Abeyta
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